Experts are calling for better awareness of the heat-related risks to women and more targeted efforts to protect them.
Why heatwaves hit women harder
Reply
Category Archives: Wellness Live
Rare goblin shark filmed alive for the first time in the deep sea
For the first time, scientists have documented live goblin sharks (Mitsukurina owstoni) thriving in their natural deep ocean environment. The historic observations, led by a University of Hawai’i at Mānoa research team, provide an unprecedented look at one of the world’s rarest and most mysterious sharks without removing it from its habitat.
Until now, every confirmed video or observation of a live goblin shark came only after the animal had been accidentally caught on a fishing line and brought to the surface. Divers could briefly examine the sharks, but the animals typically died soon afterward. The new research, published in the Journal of Fish Biology, reports two healthy goblin sharks observed in the wild. One was seen near a seamount close to Jarvis Island, while the other was recorded along the slope of the Tonga Trench.
Often described as “living fossils,” goblin sharks are the sole surviving members of a shark family that dates back nearly 125 million years. The newly documented encounters significantly expand both the species’ known geographic distribution and the depths at which it is known to live.
Goblin Shark Breaks Depth Record
“Seeing the most iconic of all the deep-sea sharks alive and looking healthy in its natural habitat is a unique honor,” said Aaron Judah, lead author of the paper and doctoral candidate working in the Deep-Sea Fish Ecology Lab and Deep-Sea Animal Research Center (DARC) in the Department of Oceanography at the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. “I was also very surprised about how deep this species was found. The observation from the slope of the Tonga Trench is nearly 700 meters deeper than this species was known to live.”
Judah explained that the Tonga Trench sighting also establishes a new depth record for the entire order of Lamniformes, also known as the mackerel sharks. This group includes familiar species such as the great white shark, basking shark, and mako shark.
Before these discoveries, goblin sharks were known only from relatively limited regions off the western United States, Australia, and Japan in the Pacific Ocean, along with small areas of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The two new sightings, both from the Central Pacific, greatly expand the species’ known range.
Archived Footage Reveals a Hidden Discovery
The first observation came to light after Judah spoke with colleagues at DARC in 2025. They mentioned a possible goblin shark recorded during a 2019 Ocean Exploration Trust expedition aboard the E/V Nautilus, which explored deep sea ecosystems around Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll, and Jarvis Island within the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.
“I was shocked to hear this because this species was not to be known to be in the Central Pacific,” said Judah.
The expedition used the remotely operated vehicle Hercules, which recorded extensive video footage that was later archived for public access and annotated by researchers at UH Mānoa. After reviewing the recordings, Judah confirmed that a goblin shark had indeed been captured on video during a livestreamed dive at an unnamed seamount northwest of Jarvis Island. (See video link after the article below.)
Second Sighting Confirms Expanded Range
The second encounter occurred during a 2024 expedition to the Tonga Trench aboard the R/V Dagon as part of the Inkfish Open Ocean Expedition, led by scientists from the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Center. A baited camera mounted on a bottom lander captured rare footage of another goblin shark swimming freely in its natural environment.
“The Goblin Shark is one of these deep-sea charismatic animals that I never thought we’d see alive, and then to do so was amazing, but to then learn that colleagues in Hawai’i also saw one was just incredible,” said Alan Jamieson, professor and founding director at Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Center and study co-author who documented the 2024 sighting.
Why These Discoveries Matter
Judah said the findings demonstrate why traditional natural history research remains essential, especially in the deep ocean, where many species are still poorly understood.
“It is really important that we still perform natural history work,” Judah emphasized. “New discoveries like this demonstrate that there is still so much to explore in our deep ocean home. Given the newly-expanded geographic range of the goblin shark, this species can be included in regional management and a nationʻs biodiversity list, whereas, beforehand we didnʻt know it was even there!”
Children keep dying in a country that made huge progress on measles
More than 120,000 suspected and confirmed measles cases have been reported in Bangladesh, where hospitals are overwhelmed.
MenB vaccine offers men no protection from gonorrhoea, claims major study
The Meningitis B vaccine does not prevent gonorrhoea infections despite being offered to at-risk men, scientists say.
German doctor jailed for murder of 15 patients and suspected of more
The German palliative care doctor has been sentenced to life imprisonment for killing 15 of his patients.
Christopher Nolan Defends Controversial Language Choice In New Film The Odyssey
The Odyssey director Christoper Nolan has defended his use of modern English in his upcoming adaptation of Homer’s Ancient Greek epic.
When the first full-length trailer for one of the most anticipated films of the year landed in December, people couldn’t help but be surprised and a little disappointed by how its dialogue came across.
Advertisement
Despite the source dating back to around the 7th or 8th century BC and being set in Ancient Greece, most of the cast have American accents and use modern language, in contrast to the more traditional way people are depicted as speaking in historical dramas.
However, Nolan has told The Los Angeles Times that he purposefully wanted to modernise his take on The Odyssey, and use language “that has emotional not intellectual meaning to people” in his film.
When writing the script, he deliberately chose modern dialogue and colloquialisms, such as when Tom Holland’s Telemachus refers to Matt Damon’s character, Odysseus, as “Dad” rather than “Father” in one scene.
Advertisement
“I was maybe being naïve, it might bite me on the ass, but I wanted an earthy narrative,” the Oppenheimer director explained. “To me it was a no-brainer.”
For similar reasons, Nolan cast a star-studded collection of A-listers that modern cinemagoers would instantly recognise and feel at home with in his new movie, which includes everyone from Zendaya and Anne Hathaway to Jon Bernthal and Lupita Nyong’o.
Advertisement
via Associated Press
“These are mythological figures, iconic in some ways,” he said of characters like Helen of Troy, the goddess Athena and Sparta’s King Menelaus.
Nolan was previously criticised earlier this year for the supposed inaccuracy of the costumes in The Odyssey. He defended his film to Time magazine shortly afterwards, defending the choices he made.
Advertisement
The Odyssey is released on Friday 17 July. Already, early reactions to the film have been glowing, with those who have seen it describing it as “a spectacle,” “immense” and “staggering”.
Dwayne Johnson Shares His Reaction To All Those Memes About His Moana Wig
Dwayne Johnson has insisted that he took the jibes about the way his character looks in the new live-action reimagining of Moana in his stride.
Released this coming Friday, a decade after the animated version of Moana hit cinemas, Disney’s latest remake will see Johnson reprising his role as Maui, the character he voiced in the beloved original film.
Advertisement
However, when the first teaser for the movie premiered earlier this year, many admitted they found The Rock’s wig a little distracting, leading to it becoming something of a meme on social media.
“I laughed so fucking hard, when we first came out and people saw me in a wig for the first time, and they memed me,” he told Variety at the film’s premiere.
“The internet did the internet. It was very, very funny. I was like, ‘OK, it’s alright, just see the movie, wait till you see it’.”
Advertisement
And while the former wrestler insisted he never wore his Maui wig out and about, he “can maybe confirm” that he wore it “at around two o’clock in the morning on a Saturday”.
“Just saying,” he quipped. “I had a lot of tequila.”
Advertisement
The original Moana film featured Auliʻi Cravalho and Johnson as its titular heroine and her right-hand demi-god.
Moana is now considered a modern Disney classic, and over the last decade, it has consistently appeared among the most-streamed movies of the last 12 months every year.
A sequel, Moana 2, was met with a slightly more tepid response upon its release in 2024, with newcomer Catherine Laga’aia taking over the main role in Disney’s new live-action feature.
Advertisement
Moana songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda – who landed his first Oscar nomination for his work on the first film – also wrote an extra song for the remake, having previously not been involved in the animated sequel.
Lammy Effortlessly Demolishes Farage’s Claim To Be Anti-Establishment With Brutal Putdown
David Lammy tore into Nigel Farage during deputy prime minister’s questions on Wednesday over the Reform UK leader’s decision to trigger a by-election.
The Clacton MP dramatically declared that he was resigning, only to run again in a “people versus establishment” contest in his constituency yesterday.
Advertisement
The announcement came as Farage faces a growing list of questions about his finances.
He is currently under investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner for failing to declare a £5 million “gift” he received from a crypto-billionaire shortly before he ran for parliament in 2024.
Farage could face further probes for not declaring his entire property portfolio to parliament or for the support he quietly took from “posh” George Cottrell.
It recently emerged the convicted criminal offered Farage funding for staff, security and the use of his London townhouse before he became an MP.
Advertisement
Farage has denied any wrongdoing and claims to be the victim of an “establishment stitch-up”.
But, in the Commons on Wednesday, Lammy – who was representing the government while Keir Starmer is away at the Nato summit in Turkey – questioned Farage’s claim of being a man of the people.
Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper kicked off the conversation by asking Lammy if Farage’s resignation should be delayed until after the probe into his undeclared gifts.
She joked: “The honorable member for Clacton used to say leave means leave, but it seems his latest stunt is to leave this place so he can return as a fully-fledged member, after not just one referendum on his behaviour, Mr Speaker, but possibly two.”
Advertisement
The deputy PM replied: “Everyone can see that the Reform leader is just trying to distract from the fact that he is up to his neck in sleaze.
“He’s got serious questions to answer and he can’t run away from them.
“Labour isn’t going to be part of this circus.
“I hear it’s the people versus the establishment – the city trader, Putin-admiring, professional politician who is pals with crypto billionaires versus Count Binface.”
All other political parties have decided not to run a candidate against Farage in Clacton, leaving only comedy candidate Count Binface to compete against the Reform leader.
Advertisement
That triggered yet more laughter in the Commons, to which Lammy said: “There have been unqualified joke candidates in the past. Let’s see what the people of Clacton decide.”
Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.
Advertisement
More protein or less? The foods to get you through a heatwave
When turning on the oven is a no-no and you’re bored of salads, these foods (and drinks) will help to beat the heat.
Ancient DNA reveals the mysterious collapse of Europe’s megalith builders
A genetic study of 132 people buried in a large megalithic tomb near Bury, about 50 kilometers north of Paris, has uncovered evidence of a dramatic population collapse and replacement during the Stone Age. The findings, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, show that the burial site was used during two separate periods, divided by a major population decline around 3000 BC.
DNA analysis revealed that the people buried before and after the collapse were not closely related, indicating that the original population largely disappeared and was replaced by newcomers.
“We see a clear genetic break between the two periods,” said Frederik Valeur Seersholm, assistant professor at the Globe Institute at the University of Copenhagen and one of the lead authors of the study.
“The earlier group resembles Stone Age farming populations from northern France and Germany, while the later group shows strong genetic links to southern France and the Iberian Peninsula.”
The results suggest that the local population shrank dramatically before new groups migrated north and settled in the region.
Ancient Disease and Signs of Crisis
To investigate what may have caused the decline, the researchers used a DNA technique that examines all genetic material preserved in ancient bones. This allowed them to identify traces of several pathogens, including Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for plague, and Borrelia recurrentis, which causes louse borne relapsing fever.
Although plague was present, the researchers say it does not fully explain what happened.
“We can confirm that plague was present, but the evidence does not support it as the sole cause of the population collapse,” said Martin Sikora, associate professor at the University of Copenhagen and senior author of the study. “The decline was likely driven by a combination of disease, environmental stress and other disruptive events.”
The skeletal remains also point to an unusually severe crisis. Archaeologists found exceptionally high mortality during the earlier burial period, especially among children and young people.
“The demographic pattern is a strong indicator of crisis,” said Laure Salanova, research director at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).
DNA Reveals Changes in Stone Age Society
The genetic evidence also shows that the population replacement was accompanied by significant social changes.
During the earlier period, the tomb contained multiple generations of the same extended families, suggesting closely connected communities that buried relatives together over time. In the later period, burials became much more selective and were dominated by a single male lineage, indicating a different social organization.
“This indicates that the population change was accompanied by a shift in how society was structured,” Seersholm said.
A Clue to the End of Europe’s Megalith Builders
The findings add to growing evidence that the Neolithic population decline affected large parts of northern and western Europe, extending well beyond Scandinavia and northern Germany.
The study may also help explain why the construction of megalithic tombs and other massive stone monuments came to an end across Europe during roughly the same period.
“We now see that end of these monumental constructions coincides with the disappearance of the population that built them,” Seersholm said.
